Access
by D.K. Archer
Summary: warnings: Turtlecest, character death, swearing, mature content.  Donatello has gone someplace the others can not follow.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Access (chapter 1/?)

Pairing: Michelangelo/Donatello

Rating: R

Warnings: Raph's dirty mouth, turtlecest, some mature content and themes.

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Two thousand and eight was a whole hour old, and already, Raph was drunk. Not that that surprised anyone. Casey had been drunk, too, and when the ball dropped on April's television set the two of them had treated the assembled to a painful, bleeding-ear rendition of 'Auld Lang Syne', which had sent Mikey into a giggle fit and which Leo had born with a grimace. April had just rolled her eyes with a grin and, when they were done, pulled Casey over for a sloppy New Years kiss. Which had been interrupted by Mikey and a noisemaker.

All in all, despite Raph throwing up out April's apartment window at 12:15, it wasn't a bad New Years. Though the same couldn't be said for the poor bastard who had been walking underneath at the time. Leo was currently dragging Raph down one of the main access tunnels in the New York sewer system, Mikey ranging ahead of him still wearing the paper hat and blowing the damned noisemaker. Leo was going to make that noisemaker disappear as soon as they got home, one way or the other.

Donnie hadn't come with them. It hadn't been much of a surprise; Donnie wasn't a big party person, and he'd been locked up in his lab practically nonstop this month, working away on the lair's systems. Donnie was in Work Mode. Mikey had done his best to drag him along, pleading and cajoling and finally resorting to the dreaded Puppy Face, which not even Master Splinter was entirely immune to. Donnie had resisted with an impressive display of will and chased Mikey out of the lab, emerging long enough to see the rest of them off. He'd hugged them all Happy New Year (which got an eyeroll from Raph and a raised eyebrow from Leo) and Mikey had tried the Puppy Face one last time, adding a sad little puppy whine for good measure.

Donnie had paused, and smiled faintly. It looked a little sad.

"Go have fun." He told Mikey, rubbing his head to make him squirm. "Keep an eye on Leo. You know how wild he gets."

"Yeah, you hear that?" Mikey said. "I'm watching you, big bro."

Leo had rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Come on. See you next year, Donnie."

With a warning from Master Splinter to be careful, they'd gone up to April's place, and despite Donnie's absence had made a time of it.

"You know what I'm gonna do?" Mikey said, wandering back towards Leo and Raph. He didn't offer to HELP carry Raph, or anything. Of course not. "I'm gonna go in Donnie's lab, I'm gonna unplug his computer, I'm gonna put the hat on him, and I'm gonna make him feel the Happy New Year whether he wants to or not." He grinned, and blew the noisemaker at Leo, making him wince.

"Good luck." Leo muttered, trying to get a better grip on Raph, who was doing next to nothing to support his own weight. Probably intentionally. "Besides, he put that new lock system on his lab. He'll probably be in there until February."

"Nuh uh." Mikey said. "He gave me the access code."

"You? Why you?"

"Because I'm cute." Mikey said, and batted his eyes at him.

Raph snorted, but fortunately kept any drunken retorts to himself.

When they got back to the lair most of the lights were off, but Master Splinter had left enough to see by. Leo deposited Raph on the couch, and Mikey skipped over to Donnie's lab, looking at the keypad thoughtfully for a moment.

"Okay, so was it two four….or three four….."

He jabbed experimentally at the lock pad and, on the third try, the lock clicked open. He pushed the door open and was met with a blast of cold air from inside.

"What the…Donnie?"

It was dark, save for the faint glow of Donnie's computer screens. Maybe the temperature control had failed after Donnie had already gone to sleep. Mikey let the door click shut behind him and crept inside, planning to jump Donnie in his bed and scare the crap out of him. The door lock bolted home. On the whole, Mikey approved of the new lock system. It kept nosey brothers (and fathers) out if they should happen to be in there together. He'd made his approval known by making use of it thoroughly these past two weeks.

He paused as he crept through the main lab. The computer screens were still active, not on screen saver, and Donnie's computer chair was occupied. A mess of wires ran from the dark silhouette into the computer, and there was something standing next to it; it looked like the IV stand, but something else was hanging from it.

"Donnie?" Mikey asked tentatively, figuring he'd fallen asleep at the computer again. "Hey, Donnie?"

He crept over to the chair, a plastic tarpaulin crinkling under his feet as he got close.

He shook Donnie's shoulder.

Leo was in the kitchen, getting a glass of water to help with Raph's hangover when the screaming started. He dropped the glass in surprise, shattering it in the sink, and bolted out into the main room. Raph was sitting up on the couch, looking around in confusion.

"Leo! LEO!"

"Mikey??" Leo ran to the lab door and tried the handle. It didn't budge, locked tight. He pounded. "Mikey, open the door!"

Mikey didn't seem to hear him. Muffled a little through the steel door, Leo could hear him in short, breathless bursts, squealing hysterically. Raph stumbled his way over to him, frowning, and pounded the door himself. "Mikey, what the fuck's going on!" He slurred, a little unsteady on his feet. Leo tried the lock again, putting his weight on it, but it was too heavy to force. Donnie hadn't done the job halfway.

"LEO!" Mikey bellowed again. "LEO, RAPH, ANYBODY!"

"Mikey, we're right here!" Leo called in, trying to sound calm. "You have to open the door! It's locked!"

"What's happening?" demanded the voice behind them, and Leo looked over his shoulder at Master Splinter, summoned by the noise. His robe was hastily tied and his fur was ruffled at odd angles from sleep, but he looked alert, walking stick held as a weapon, not a cane.

"We don't know." Leo said. "Mikey's screaming but we can't get in, the doors locked!"

Master Splinter gestured Leo aside and went up to the door himself. He rapped hard with his cane. "Michelangelo!" he called, his voice sounding calm, firm, and authoritative. "Michelangelo, you need to calm down and open the door! You hear me? Open the door!"

The noise strangled off almost immediately. There was a moment of dead silence, then scrabbling at the handle on the other side. He got the lock, and the door swung inward, revealing Michelangelo's pale, saucer-eyed face. He stood, blocking the door.

"Michelangelo, what's happened?" Splinter asked firmly. "Are you alright?"

Mikey opened his mouth, came up with nothing, and closed it again. He was breathing short and hard, and Leo recognized the expression, the one that he'd worn when they were little and they'd gotten lost on the surface, out against Master Splinter's orders. It was badly controlled hysteria. Leo gently pushed him back and stepped into the lab, followed by Splinter and Raph, who was unsteady on his feet but looked deadly serious. He stood ready to draw, but the lab was silent, just the hum of Donnie's machinery making white noise in the dark.

"Donnie?" Leo called carefully, listening. There was no sound of movement.

"Donatello!" Splinter called, maintaining that authoritative voice. "Are you in here?"

Silence.

Leo crept forward, leaving Michelangelo to stand dumbly at the door. There was a bank of worktables and machinery blocking the view from the door (Donnie had set up the lab that way intentionally, he was sure) and Leo moved past it warily, half expecting to be attacked. All he saw, in the main lab, was Donatello's computer screens glowing placidly in the dark. His brother's computer chair was there, and occupied.

Leo's gut went cold.

"Donnie?" he asked, quietly. The figure in the chair didn't move.

Master Splinter started forward, and Leo moved to get there first, holding up a hand to forestall his father. Not because he thought there was danger. He stood in front of Donatello for a moment, blocking him from the light of the computer screens, then knelt.

Master Splinter came anyway. Raph hovered where he was, looking drunk and scared and unsteady. Master Splinter made a small noise, and covered his mouth.

It was obvious he was dead.

Donatello's eyes were half open, staring blankly into the dark below the computer screen. His head was resting on his chest, the angle a little off, and he'd slumped backwards in the chair. Around his head was what looked like a steel circlet, holding in place myriad wires and cables, looping down past his shoulders like a braid and leading into the main computer. The IV stand by his right arm was hung with some sort of contraption, looking deceptively simple, with a tube running down into his vein and a string that tied to the fingers on his right hand. The bottle attached to the IV line was only half empty, but it had stopped running.

"Hey. Hey, no." Raph slurred, and stumbled forward. He'd matched Casey beer for beer, and beaten him in the end. "No fucking way. Donnie! Hey, Donnie!"

Raph grabbed Donnie by the shoulders and shook him viciously. Donnie's head snapped back and forth like a ragdoll.

"Donnie, wake the fuck up!"

"Raph, stop it!" Leo grabbed him to pull him off, but Raph snapped an arm back, slamming Leo in the nose and knocking him backwards.

"No, you do not get to be dead!" Raph shouted angrily. "You're the smart one, no way you're fuckin dumb enough to kill yourself! WAKE UP!"

"Raphael, that's enough!" Master Splinter snapped, and smacked Raph in the plastron with the head of his stick. Raph looked up at him and blinked, startled. Splinter pointed to the door. His hand was shaking. "Go! Outside! Now!" He ordered. He'd managed to keep his voice of authority, though it had slipped a little. "Leonardo, you too! All of you, out NOW!"

Leo stared at him, a little shocked, but grabbed Raph by the elbows and pulled him away from the chair. This time, his brother didn't fight him, but let himself be dragged to the door of the lab. Mikey went without a struggle.

Master Splinter stood in the quiet of the lab after the door clicked shut, breathing with forced regularity. Donatello had been knocked sideways in the chair by Raphael's furious treatment. Splinter dropped his walking stick and gently reached forward, pulling the steel circlet and all of its wires off of his son's head. He set it on the ground carefully and straightened again, looking at him once more. With careful, deliberate movements, Master Splinter clamped off the IV line and gently pulled it out of his arm, rubbing the cold skin where it had been with his thumb as though it might sting. There was no blood. Donatello's eyes kept staring past him, into the dark.

He wanted to move him to the bed. He didn't know if he could get him that far, on his own. Practically, he should not attempt it. Practicality. How much of this was practicality. The tarp, realistically laid to catch any bodily runoff. The heating in the lab turned off, freezing the room and the body until they could properly deal with it. Such a cold, practical look at it all. His son was eminently practical.

He, himself, was not.

Splinter grabbed Donatello under the arms and tried to shift him, straining, hauling him back up to sit properly. He couldn't get him as far as the bed, but he could manage that much. He placed two fingers on his son's eyelids, and gently pulled them closed.

He stepped back to look at him again. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. It was louder than the noise of the machines, and it was going too fast. He took a deep breath to try to slow it. Breath carefully and evenly. Control the shaking in his hands. He had three son's left to deal with. Three sons. They were waiting for him outside.

Splinter forced himself to look away, and moved towards the door of the lab. His legs buckled, and he grabbed the IV stand to try to steady himself, but the wheels went out from under it, sending it, him, and the homemade Kevorkian Machine sprawling. The glass IV bottle shattered and he landed on his hip hard, shouting despite himself. For a moment he just laid there on the cold concrete floor, trying to take deep breaths. He had to be calm. He had three sons left waiting for him, he was their father, he had to take charge, he had to be the strong one, he had to be—

He grasped vainly for his center, for some anchor, some place of calm. Sixteen years of meditational technique collapsed under the very real weight of his fears realized.

Donatello—

He felt something snap in his chest, like an overstretched rubber band. Master Splinter drew his hands up over his face

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Access (chapter 2/?)

Pairing: Michelangelo/Donatello

Rating: R

Warnings: turtlecest, some mature content and themes.

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April O'Neil was just drifting off to sleep when she heard the ringing. Groggily, she rolled off the side of the bed and scrabbled for her purse, finding her cell phone on the fourth ring and jamming the 'talk' button.

"H-hullo?" she mumbled, pushing her hair back from her face. She was met by a dial tone. The ringing continued.

Wrong cell, apparently.

In the bed, Casey rolled over and groaned, pulling the quilt up over his head. April sat on the floor for a moment, trying to remember where the hell she'd put the shell cell. Still in her coat pocket? She crawled over to the chair where she'd dropped most of her clothes and fished it out, pulling the coat up to cover what little she was wearing and shaking herself to try to wake up. She thumbed it on.

She'd been expecting Raph, calling to impart to Casey one last drunken thought before passing out. She was surprised to see Leo. He looked taught and hard controlled.

"Leo?" she mumbled, pushing her hair back again. "What's going on?"

"We've got a problem." He said tersely. Muffled in the background, she could hear Raph shouting something, and what sounded like someone crying.

"Is that Mikey?" she asked, surprised. She was coming awake fast.

Leo didn't answer. "April, I think you'd better come."

She was already getting to her feet. "What happened? Is everyone alright?"

Leo's eyes drifted away from the screen, and for a moment she thought he wasn't going to answer.

"Leo…"

His eyes snapped back to her. "…It's Donnie. I don't know if it was an accident or an experiment went wrong or if he…I don't know if…"

She waited.

"He's dead." Leo finally said bluntly. "Donnie's dead. Can you come?"

There was a moment where time stretched out. April stared at the screen, wide eyed, and her mouth fell open to try to answer.

"I…uh….yeah." she mumbled, grabbing for her jeans. "We'll be right there."

"Thanks." Leo said shortly, and the screen went dead. She stared at it for a moment, all too aware of the faint pressure building slowly in her stomach. She turned and shook Casey awake violently. Casey came to with a yelp and swatted at her in drunken surprise.

"Ah! I'm up, I'm up!"

"Get dressed." She said, ripping the covers back. "We gotta go. Now!"

"How do you even know he's dead!" Raph shouted, throwing his arms out expressively. "I mean, did anyone even check his pulse?? How dya know he's not just…unconscious!"

"Raph, he's gone." Leo said for the fifth time, voice even. He was impressed by his own tone. Mikey just hitched, curled up on the couch, knees to his chest and face hidden in his arms. Leo had an arm around his shoulders but Mikey wasn't letting himself be pulled in. He was still wearing the paper party hat from the New Year's celebration.

"You don't know that for sure!" Raph snapped, jabbing a finger at Leo accusingly. "You didn't even check! Maybe that IV was full of a….an….anesthetic, or something!" He'd stumbled a little on the word. "And the wires! Why was he all hooked up if he was trying to kill himself?? Donnie wouldn't-- Donnie wouldn't do that!"

Mikey looked up abruptly, face wet and splotchy from crying. Leo looked at him, but he wavered and put his face back down, keeping whatever he'd been about to say to himself. Leo looked to the lab door and took a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh.

"I'm going to check on Master Splinter." Leo said quietly. "You'll be okay, Mikey?"

Mikey didn't answer him. Leo got up anyway, walking quietly to Donnie's door and knocking gently. "Master Splinter?" he called.

There was silence from inside the room.

Leo gave it a moment, then looked back over his shoulder at his brothers. "Mikey, what was the keycode for the lock?" he asked, as gently as he could.

Mikey hiccoughed, and scrubbed at his face "Four seven, two three, five nine." He said shakily. "You're not going back in there, are you?"

Leo just typed the numbers into the oversized keypad by the door. He didn't get to finish the sequence. The door pulled quietly open, and Master Splinter stood there, eyes red but looking carefully composed. Leo decided not to notice the damp fur on his face.

"Leonardo, will you help me move him?" Splinter asked quietly. "I want to put him on the bed."

Leo hesitated, but nodded, stepping into the darkened lab and letting the door click shut behind him.

Seeing it the second time was no easier than seeing it the first. This time, Leo knew what was coming. Standing over Donatello's body, Leo glanced over at his Master, who looked away. Leo stuck his fingers under Donnie's chin, feeling stupid and hopeful and worse for hoping Raph was right. There was no pulse. His skin was as cold as the room. His mind flashed briefly with something Donnie had told him once about liver temperature and time of death and he pushed it off, putting one arm under Donnie's shoulders and another under his knees before he had a chance to think about it. Donnie's head lolled back as he lifted him carefully out of the chair, and Master Splinter just watched as Leo carried him slowly to the alcove where Donnie had slept. The narrow bed was made up perfectly.

He'd hoped that, if Donnie was in the bed, it would look like he was sleeping. It didn't. Donnie slept in a tangle of arms and legs and bedsheets, and he looked off somehow, like a big doll.

"I called April." He said after a moment, wanting to break the strange stretch of a moment and unable to think of anything else.

Master Splinter nodded slowly. "A good idea. Your brothers…?"

Leo closed his eyes and let his breath out. "As expected. They're upset. Raph is still drunk…"

Splinter nodded again. It went without saying that Raph was being loud and belligerent. He probably would have been even if he was sober.

Splinter didn't ask him how HE was doing. No more than Leo would ask him that question. That was a matter to be dealt with later.

There were ten seconds of silence. Then, faintly, a knock on the door.

"Leo?" April's voice called in, sounding wary and shaken.

Leo didn't mean to, but he let his breath out in relief, some of the tension draining out of his shoulders. He quickly turned and hurried back to the door. She'd made it here in record time. He opened it, and was met with her face through the crack, hair messily pulled up into a ponytail and eyes unsteady but dry.

"Leo…" she swallowed, trying to keep her voice even. "What happened? Raph's still drunk and Mikey's just…where's Donnie? What happened to him?"

Leo glanced past her, where Casey was now leaned in conspirataly with Raph, talking lowly. At least his brother had stopped yelling. Leo stepped aside to let her through and April hesitated, almost backing up before summoning her courage. She was holding her purse between her hands instead of over her shoulder, occupying them.

"So…so what happened? Where's Donnie?" she asked, voice wavering a little.

"We moved him to his bed." Leo said flatly, leading her into the main lab. April followed hesitantly, and visibly relaxed when she moved past the bank of work tables and machinery and found the lab empty of Donatello. She glanced around quickly, eyes skipping over Master Splinter and settling on the computer chair. The room wasn't cold enough to see her breath, but it was nearly. She pulled her arms in tighter to her sides.

"This is where we found him." Leo said, voice taken on an impersonal, businesslike tone. It sounded cold. "Or Mikey did. He was sitting in the computer chair, facing the screens. The IV was hooked into his arm and that….thing…was on his head."

April almost asked what thing, but caught sight of the odd jumble of wires and cables that made up the circlet. She crept closer, walking a slow circle around the chair. The tarp crinkled under her feet.

"Why is there a tarp in here?" she asked. "And why is it so cold?"

"Practicality." Splinter answered blankly.

April blinked at him. "What?"

Splinter did not elaborate. She frowned, trying to put on her Nancy Drew mindset, holding onto that as hard as she could. At least until she knew what was going on. She stopped, and knelt next to the steel circlet, picking it up carefully. Her eyes followed the wires, back into a series of newly installed ports in the front of the computer. The wires all met the circlet and ended in white plastic electrodes. Monitoring devices, she was sure. Monitoring what? She looked up at the computer screen, still glowing patiently above them. There were two windows open on the screen. One had two boxes inside it, labeled Alpha and Beta, with lines like a heart monitor. Both lines were flat.

"…He was monitoring his brain activity?" she murmured, glancing down at the circlet again. That seemed coldly scientific, even for Donnie.

The second window showed a program running, but it looked like the program had completed itself. Lines and lines of computer text filled the window, and April could only make sense of a few parts of it. There were creations of new files. Saving the data from the brainwave experiment? File uploads and transfers and an endless stream of babble she couldn't make sense of.

Leo and Splinter were watching her. She put the circlet back down and walked around to the toppled IV stand. A pool of clear liquid had collected on the tarp, under the shattered bottle. Parts of the glass were still held together by the paper label, saturated but still readable.

"The broken bottle is sodium thiopental." She announced, glancing up at Splinter. "It's a barbiturate. And anesthetic. This little one, hooked into the line…." She paused, and swallowed "That's potassium chloride. It…when you get enough of it in your system, it stops your heart."

They were staring at her. Her chest felt too tight, and she looked back down at the toppled machine to keep from looking at them. There was a string attached to two simplified releases in the IV line.

"It's a…it's a Kevorkian Machine." She said quietly after a moment, biting her lip. Nancy Drew was being difficult to hold on to.

Splinter asked the inevitable. "And what, exactly, is that?"

"It's a….a…." She swallowed, shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. Her eyes stung. "There's a man called Dr. Kevorkian. He's in prison because he helped people kill themselves, they called it assisted suicide. He built a machine a little bit like this one. He…He would tie a string to the patient's finger, and when the patient was ready, they pulled the string. That released the anesthetic." She paused. "As the patient fell asleep, their arm would drop, and that would release the…the lethal drug."

There was a moment of silence.

"Then this is…" Splinter breathed slowly. "This is a machine designed specifically to kill its user."

April nodded, not entirely trusting her voice. Splinter was staring at the shattered bottle on the tarp, and Leo had looked away. Both could have been made of granite.

"Can I see him?" she whispered eventually.

Splinter nodded once, head down and apparently struggling. She stood up and moved past them slowly towards the little alcove where she knew Donnie's bed to be. They saw her hesitate on the threshold, then step carefully into the darkened room.

When they heard her crying a few minutes later, neither one went to comfort her.

Some time later when they collected back in the main room, Raph and Casey were gone. Mikey was sitting alone on the couch, paper party had off his head finally and sitting on the cushion next to him, a glittery reminder of how the evening had begun. Master Splinter glanced around quickly, hands tightening around the shaft of his cane.

"Where's Raphael?" he demanded.

Mikey looked up, the initial part of the crying jag passed but still teetering on the edge of it. He looked sick, and exhausted, and old.

"Raph and Casey walked out." He said hollowly. "I dunno where they went."

"He just…left?" he said, voice taking on a slight edge and fur rising on his neck. Mikey cringed.

"They didn't ask me for permission!" he protested, voice taking on a whining tone. Leo almost moved to forestall the relapse, but held his ground.

There was a moment of silence, the brother's waiting and April seemingly oblivious to the tension in the air. She was sniffling, looking shaky and red.

Abruptly, Master Splinter turned and smashed his cane down into the nearest thing, which fortunately was the floor lamp. April yelped in surprise and the brothers flinched down, Mikey's eyes going wide at the unaccustomed display of temper. The light bulb popped and the lamp fell over with a crash and a clatter, sorely bent, darkening the room just that much more.

Splinter glared down at the ruined lamp, breathing through his teeth and knuckles white.

No one said a word. All three of them were staring at him, barely breathing.

After a long moment Master Splinter turned away. He threw a hand up vaguely in the air, some strange, jerky gesture towards Leonardo, and walked away, going to his own room and closing the door.

They stared after him for a moment. Then Mikey sniffled, and April went to him, sitting down on the sofa and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, initiating the next phase of the crying jag. Leo shut his eyes, took a breath, then went to go get a broom to sweep up the broken light bulb.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Access (chapter 3/?)

Pairing: Michelangelo/Donatello

Rating: R

Warnings: In case any of you missed the warning on the last two chapters, TURTLECEST. Say it with me now. Turtlecest. You have been warned.

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Chapter 3

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When they were kids, they'd done 'camp outs' sometimes, all four of them setting up a 'tent' somewhere in the lair (usually the main room, a sheet draped between two chairs making a good enough tent for six year olds) They'd play games across the living room furniture, soldiers if it was Raph's turn to choose, cowboys if it was Donnie's, and sometimes Splinter had sat in on it, looking amused as three little cowboys with imaginary six-shooters rescued him from the nefarious cattle baron, who was usually Raphael wearing a towel as a cape, as all good villains needed a cape.

When they were done wreaking havoc, Master Splinter turned off the light and all four piled into the little makeshift tent like sardines, ending up one big tangle of arms and legs come morning. They didn't usually get much sleep during campouts. They'd stay awake whispering and bothering each other and muffling their giggles. Mikey was usually too keyed up to sleep, fresh from playing Super Mikey and rescuing the damsel in distress (who was usually Donnie, despite Donnie's continued protest of this) from the super villain, Dr. Doom (again, Raphael in a cape.)

What they were doing now wasn't much of a campout.

April was the one on the couch, covered by a blanket from Leo's room and far too awake. She'd offered to stay. There hadn't been much choice; it was leaving too much on Leonardo to leave him here alone. She'd tried calling Casey's cell first, then the apartment, while Leo called Raph's shellcell. To no one's surprise, they weren't answering. Wherever Raph was, he didn't want to be found. They could only assume Raph would continue drinking and Casey would do nothing to help the situation. A drunken, angry, hurt Raphael roaming the streets on New Years Day made her stomach twist. Between the two of them, they could get into serious trouble.

Mikey was the one in the armchair. Leo had gotten him a blanket, too, and Mikey had offered lamely "Heh, wanna make a tent? It's a campout." Leo had just blinked at him, slowly, and looked away. For a moment his eyes had looked fractured somehow.

Leo was on the floor. He was sitting with his shell to the back of the sofa, katana in his lap and eyes fixed on the door. He could sleep sitting up like this, and sometimes did, when they were stranded on the surface and had to keep on guard. He was not sleeping. He was barely even blinking.

Leo was listening, muscles twitching slightly every time the chair creaked. Mikey kept shifting, trying to negotiate the pressure in his chest, and every time he moved the chair springs groaned. April's breathing was audible, sinuses stuffed from crying and sniffing occasionally, turning her face first that way, than the other.

From Splinter's room, there was silence.

From Donnie's room—

It was only three am when April sat up. Mikey had finally gone to sleep, or at the very least, had stopped moving. He'd pulled the blanket over his head and seemed to be breathing steadily.

Of course, Raph hadn't come back. The silence was enormous.

April slipped off the sofa and scrubbed at her face, padding quietly around the couch on bare feet. Leo glanced up at her as she gracefully folded her legs and lowered herself down next to him.

She followed his gaze to the door. For a moment, neither one said anything.

"I'll help you keep watch." She offered quietly.

Leo looked at her, gaze fractured but still in control. She couldn't tell if he looked surprised or not. He might have. He silently pulled his second katana from its sheath and passed it to her.

April took it carefully. It was a little heavier than the sword she used. But then, there was so much more depending on it. It carried a heavy weight.

Together they sat out the rest of the night, guarding what was left.

-- November 17th, 2007. Early evening. --

Mikey was the image of stealth, creeping invisibly through the shadows of the laboratory, unseen to mortal eyes. Or he would have been, if he hadn't been humming his own theme music. It sounded suspiciously like the theme from Mission: Impossible.

Mikey was on a mission.

Sliding sneakily under one of Donnie's workbenches, Mikey crept slowly towards his target, orange cape dragging on the ground behind him. Donnie was bent over one of the benches, a sprawl of books and gadgets and general science debris around him; it was all the same geek-fodder to Mikey.

Still humming, Mikey looked around, now nearly at Donnie's heel. The coast was clear. Now was his chance! Mikey pounced, grabbing Donnie from behind and clapping a hand over his mouth, stifling any sound of surprise.

Donnie didn't so much as flinch.

"Shh!" Mikey hissed. "I've come to rescue you! Hurry and we can still make it out of Dr. Doom's fortress alive!"

Donnie waited patiently until Mikey took his hand away from his mouth.

"Are you Super Mikey again?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mikey grinned. "Myep. And you're being held captive by the evil Dr. Doom, forced to build his doomsday device and help take over the world. If only some noble, heroic soul would rescue you!" He made a face of mock tragedy.

Donnie rolled his eyes, though the corners of his mouth turned up a little.

Mikey let him go.

"So what evil thing is Dr. Doom making you build now?" he asked, leaning over Donnie's shoulder. Donnie actually wasn't tinkering with anything. Amidst the general chaos there was a book open in front of him, one jerked from a bookstore dumpster and therefore missing its cover. Most of Donnie's books were like that. He'd scribbled indecipherably in the margins in red ink.

"Dr. Doom's nefarious plot is still in the research stage. You've gotten here just in time." Donnie said, playing along.

"Ah! Then there's hope!" Mikey grabbed Donnie again. "To the Mikey Mobile! I'll destroy his evil plans and we'll away to the Turtle Cave, where the grateful rescued scientists can demonstrate his gratitude to the mighty hero." Mikey wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Donnie snorted but glanced self consciously towards the door, half expecting Leo or Splinter to be standing there. He had that kind of luck. Fortunately, they were unobserved.

"Well the grateful scientist is a little busy right now." Donnie said. "Will Super Mikey take a rain check?"

Mikey seemed to think about it. "Hmm. A raincheck for wild, gratitude driven sex." He rubbed his chin. "Maybe. What are you reading, anyway?" he asked, dropping the Super Mikey act.

"Just brushing up on a few things." He said noncommittally.

Mikey snagged the book from in front of him and quickly dodged out of range, ignoring Donnie's indignant squawk.

"'Origin of the Species'?" Mikey read, looking at the title page. "What are you reading THAT for?"

Donnie got up and snatched the book back. "I'm just reading." He said, sounding a little defensive.

With Donnie away from the table, Mikey dove into the space created and started rifling through the books and notes. Donnie grabbed him by the cape and yanked him back, momentarily strangling him.

"Ow." Mikey complained, rubbing his throat. "What's the big deal? You gonna build a super de-evolving ray that turns people into monkeys?"

Donnie made a face at him. "No. It's nothing you'd be interested in." he said. "You'll find out about it eventually, anyway."

"Boring science stuff?"

"Boring science stuff." Donnie confirmed, nodding.

Mikey gave a put upon sigh. "Then I suppose you're gonna tell me to buzz off and let you get BACK to your boring science stuff, huh?" he said, putting on a bit of a pout.

"Oh, don't even try the puppy dog face on me." Donnie warned.

Which, of course, made Mikey slap it on, wide, sad eyes at full force. Donnie groaned and looked away. "Mikey!"

"Well fine, if science is so much more interesting, I guess it can have you." Mikey said, mock pouting. "But before I leave you alone, you're gonna have to kiss me."

Donnie rolled his eyes. Mikey had made that demand many times in the few months since they'd started this, usually in situations where they were in danger of being spotted (though almost never near Master Splinter. Even Mikey had a healthy fear of being found out by HIM) Donnie was pretty sure Mikey enjoyed making him uncomfortable. Glancing towards the door again, paranoid, perhaps, but feeling justified, Donnie darted and gave him a quick peck on the mouth. Mikey grabbed him by the head before he could pull back and held him there, sticking his tongue in his mouth and making Donnie squirm for a few seconds before he groaned in defeat and cooperated.

Mikey was enjoying this far too much.

Donnie heard the creak of the door (he knew it! He just knew it!) and tried to pull away frantically, heart stumbling in a panic, but Mikey held onto him for a few seconds, just long enough for whoever was out there to move into the 'antechamber' and come nearly in sight of the main lab. Mikey finally let go and Donnie stumbled back, just in time for Leo to stick his head around the bank of machinery and tables that blocked them from sight of the door.

"Um, dinner's ready, guys." He said, taking in Mikey's superhero getup and smirk without blinking.

Donnie nodded mutely, horrified. Mikey just flashed him a toothy grin. "Kay, bro. We'll be out in a minute."

Leo raised an eyebrow, but just shook his head and retreated. Donnie listened to his footsteps back to the door, the faint creak of the hinges, and it shut again.

Mikey just smiled at him, looking damned pleased with himself. "You know, maybe you should put a lock on the door." He said, and waggled his eyebrows again.

Donnie blinked. "Actually, I've been planning to."

Mikey had no idea how it was he'd eventually fallen asleep. The few moments after he woke up were the best ones of the day, when he blinked blearing from underneath a blanket and wondered where the hell he was and just why the blanket was on his head in the first place.

Then he remembered where, and why, and the aches in his body and the rawness of his throat made sense. He swallowed distastefully and pulled the blanket down off his face. His eyes flicked on their own to the door of Donnie's room, and he looked away just as quickly, heart stumbling miserably.

He wondered if it would still be possible to go back to sleep. He doubted it. He was Awake now, whether he wanted to be or not.

He had absolutely no desire to move.

April wasn't on the sofa. He made himself sit up a little, looking around. The chair creaked under him.

"You awake?" April's voice said softly. Her head peeked up from behind the sofa, and he blinked at her. "Yeah." He mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Only seven." She said, still quiet.

He heard something shift behind the couch, and Leo stood up, looking a little stiff and blank. He sheathed his katana, and April passed him the other to do the same to.

"Raph come back?" he asked, expecting he knew the answer.

Leo shook his head. "I'll have to go and find him."

"I'll come with." Mikey volunteered, standing up.

"No." Leo snapped. "You're going to stay here with Master Splinter."

Mikey blinked at him. "What? Why?"

"Because I can't have you out there right now." Leo said sharply. "I'll find Raph and I'll bring him home. You stay put and turn on all the security systems."

Mikey flared a little. "So I'm just supposed to—"

"You're staying!" Leo snapped, causing Mikey to pull back a little. "That's final! Master Splinter needs you here." He added, in a moment of inspiration.

Mikey just stared.

April put a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "I'll stay here with you while Leo's out." She said, and Leo seemed to relax a little, if only a little. "You go ahead and bring the boy's home, alright?"

Leo nodded, and turned to go without another word. Mikey watched the door shut behind him.

"So I can't leave the house now??" he demanded, once Leo was gone. He wanted out. He wanted out rather badly.

April squeezed his shoulder. "Just give him some time. He'll calm down." She looked towards the kitchen. "How about we make some breakfast, huh? You can help me make pancakes."

"I'm not hungry." Mikey grumbled, rubbing his forehead.

"I know you're not." She said. "Neither am I. But we're going to make pancakes. And we're going to eat the pancakes. And if Splinter wakes up, we're going to make him eat pancakes, too."

Mikey stared at her. "Pancakes."

"Yes. Pancakes. From scratch." She confirmed. "Into the kitchen. Go." She got behind him and pushed, and Mikey stumbled along, feeling mystified.

Pancakes.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Access (chapter 4/?)

Pairing: Michelangelo/Donatello

Rating: R

Warnings: Leo yelling and Splinter fighting a mighty battle of wills. Myep XD

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Chapter 4

------------

They'd left the window open.

Leonardo crept carefully down the fire escape, too aware of the brilliant white light of the winter's morning and the rime of ice that covered everything, making the metal slippery and dangerous. New Years was too bright. The sun had come up and the frozen city was an enormous mirror, snow and ice and frost glittering the light right back, burning his eyes like staring directly into the sun. He was too visible, out here, his shell dark and matte against the frost.

In his mental catalog of places Raph might go to hide, Casey's apartment still topped the list; or to be more precise, the roof of Casey's apartment, now that it was shared with April. But as cold as it was, and the time of day, Raph would have moved inside by now. Leo slid down to Casey's level and bent, putting his hands in the frost of the window sill and leaving three fingered prints. The baseboard heaters inside were clanging away, trying to heat the room despite the open window.

Raphael was on the rug. He was on his stomach with a comforter thrown over him, covering him from shoulder to ankle, his feet still peeking out. He was breathing noisily, and despite the scatter of beer cans he seemed to be alright. Casey was just a few feet away on the sofa. He was sprawled at weird angles underneath an old quilt, wads of tissue up his nostrils and a crust of blood under his nose. He was snoring. His hockey mask was on the floor by his hand.

Leo crawled inside, obliterating his own handprints, and stood for a moment, looking down at the two of them. The television was playing the early morning show, but it was on mute. Leo kicked an empty Coors can away and knelt by Raph, tugging the comforter down. Raph grumbled a complaint and tried to pull it back up, but Leo didn't let him. He seemed alright. There was a splatter of dried blood on his shoulder but it wasn't his; Leo suspected it belonged to Casey. There was a dark smudge that would soon be a bruise on the side of his head.

"Get up." Leo said coldly, shaking Raph by the shoulder.

Raph swatted blindly in his general direction, pinching his eyes tight and turning his face into the rug. "Fuck off." He grumbled.

"Raph, get UP, NOW." Leo dug his fingers into Raph's arm, hitting a painful pressure point near the armpit. Raph yelped and sat up swinging, a blow Leo easily dodged, before putting his arms over his aching head and flopping back down with a groan.

"Hangover?" Leo asked coolly. "How much have you had to drink?"

Raph groaned. "Apparently not enough. And if you lecture me right now I'm going to break your kneecaps." He warned.

Leo was quiet for a moment, scowling down at him. On the sofa, Casey mumbled to himself and pulled the quilt up over his head.

"This is just like you." Leo snapped. "Something happens and you run away. Did it ever occur to you while you're out getting drunk the rest of us were having to deal with the problem without you?"

"Leo…" Raph said warningly.

"What were you thinking!" Leo shouted, making Raph flinch at the noise. "Master Splinter needs all of us right now and you just ran off, not even THINKING about your family! Making us worry about you too when we've already got Donnie—"

Raph tried to kick his knees out from his position on the ground. Leo jumped away easily, baring his teeth in a grimace.

"You have got to be the most thoughtless, inconsiderate, self centered—"

Raph swung again, sitting up despite the wave of pain and vertigo that slammed him. Leo dodged without missing a beat.

"—CHILDISH person I have ever met! You didn't even think about Master Splinter, did you! Or Mikey for that matter, what he's going through!"

Raph had made it to his feet. He was flushed and unsteady, looking ready to either fall over or throw up at any moment (or perhaps both). Casey scrubbed at his face on the couch, groaning and trying to take in the scene despite his pounding head. Everything seemed to waver.

"All you thought about was yourself!" Leo continued, easily dodging a punch towards his face. "What YOU needed, what YOU wanted! Never mind your father and little brother are a wreck, never mind we've still got a BODY sitting in Donnie's lab—"

Another furious swipe towards his face. Leo dodged away, then spun and kicked Raph in the side of the head, knocking him into April's stereo system. Raph went down and stayed down, in pain and hitching, trying not to loose what had stayed in his stomach all night.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Casey stumbled off the couch, hit the floor once, then made it on his second attempt. He clambered across to where Raph was, pulling him onto his side so he wouldn't choke and making a barrier between the brothers. It was too early, and his head hurt too badly for this.

"Everybody just calm down." Casey said evenly, hoping Raph wouldn't make it past that gagging sound and set off a bout of sympathetic sickness. "Everybody just take a deep breath, relax, Raph, don't you dare puke on the floor." He warned.

Leo stepped closer, causing Casey to rise to his feet in defense.

"He's coming home with me." Leo said flatly. "You can either help me or get out of my way."

Casey held his hands up to keep Leo at bay, bracing his legs and expecting that if Leo hit him he'd be out for the count.

"Whoa, hey. Leo, man, it's not what you think." Casey said. "He just had to get out for a while. I figured it'd be better if he came up here than stay down there and flip out in front of Mikey and you and Splinter."

"So you just LEFT?"

"Hey, I took care of him!" Casey protested. "I wasn't gonna let him get in any trouble! He's my friend, you gotta take care of your friends when stuff like this goes down!"

Leo eyed him and the dried blood on his face. Raph was trying to gain his feet again. He'd made it as far as propping himself up on his arms, but that was it.

"If you want to take care of him, then help me get him back home." Leo said, lips pulled back a little. "April's worried about you, too."

Casey frowned. "Alright man, just…just give us a minute, okay?"

"I ain't going—" Raph began.

"Raph, I don't think we got a choice." Casey muttered. He knelt down again, and Leo moved towards the window, listening carefully. He'd give them a minute. But just a minute. He could hear them whispering to each other furtively, the whispered escalating in violence if not in volume. Casey got the last word in, whatever it was. There was a pause, then Raph grunted, and grudgingly let Casey try to help him to his feet.

Aspirin was on order before they went anywhere, he decided. Lots and lots of aspirin.

Down in the lair, Splinter was sitting at the kitchen table, giving April a deadly glare as she placed a stack of pancakes in front of him. His tail twitched irritably. April stared right back at him, forcing a smile, refusing to be cowed by his glare.

He looked down at the stack for a moment. It was more than one person could be expected to eat in the morning. And Michelangelo was blithely making more, humming nervously while he mixed the bowl, focusing his attentions wholly on the making of pancakes. Both he and April were covered in flour dust.

"I do not want pancakes." Splinter said flatly, with the tone of finality. "I am not hungry."

"I know you're not." April said, all sweetness. "But you're going to eat them."

Splinter raised an eyebrow, not expecting defiance. "No, I am not."

"Yes, you are." She said, and stabbed his fork down in the middle of the stack. "You have to eat something, and this is what we have."

"I am not eating pancakes." He said again, voice taking on a bit of an edge. He pushed the plate away.

"You ARE eating pancakes." April said, still sweet, but there was steel under it. She shoved the plate right back at him. "You're going to eat them if I have to pin you down and force feed them to you." She smiled at him, but it didn't quite meet her eyes.

Both his eyebrows went up this time. "I would most sincerely like to see you try, Miss O'Neil."

April took the fork, hacked off a section of the stack, and shoved it under Splinter's nose.

"Eat. The. Pancakes." She ordered.

Mikey had gone silent. He watched the standoff, half expecting Master Splinter to haul off and crack the side of April's head open at any minute. They glared at each other over the fork.

April did not back down.

After a painfully long minute, Splinter took the fork between his teeth, glaring at April over a mouthful of pancake. She let go, and brushed her hands off, looking bright and pleased with herself. Splinter pulled the fork out and chewed slowly, glaring daggers at the woman.

"Well now!" she said, and gave him a thousand watt smile. "You finish that all up and when the boys get home we'll make sure they get a good breakfast in them too. Won't we, Mikey?"

Mikey blinked, a little in shock, but nodded. April started humming the song Mikey had left off on, and they poured the next batch of pancakes.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Access (chapter 5/?)

Pairing: Michelangelo/Donatello

Rating: R

Warnings: AFRICA

------------

Chapter 5

------------

Getting Raph home was an ordeal. Twice they were almost spotted by morning commuters, and Leo began wishing he'd brought their trench coats. After nearly an hour and several trips and falls, they were in front of the door to the lair. Leo pulled the right pipe and stepped aside, making Raph and Casey go through first. Both of them made it as far as the couch, and flopped down with dual groans, leaning their heads back and closing their eyes.

April's head popped out of the kitchen. She was covered in flour and splatters of pancake batter, a forced smile firmly in place.

"You made it back!" she said cheerfully, as Leo wandered towards her. "Mikey and I made breakfast."

Leo paused in the doorway, staring at Master Splinter grimly working his way through a stack of pancakes.

"Sit down." She said, pulling a chair out for him. "Mikey?"

Mikey handed her a plate full of pancakes, and she set it down in his spot.

"I'm, uh, not really hungry." He said, frowning at the plate.

"Leonardo, eat the pancakes." Master Splinter ordered flatly.

Leo blinked at him, and obediently sat down, taking the offered fork. April went out to the living room and eyed Casey and Raph.

"Pancakes?" she offered.

Raph groaned. "Anything that goes down is going to come right back up." He warned. Casey nodded his agreement.

"Then I'm getting you some milk, and you're going to drink that." she said, going back towards the kitchen. "It'll help settle your stomachs."

Raph glanced over at Casey. "Is she always like this?"

"No. Thank god." Casey muttered.

She returned with two glasses and put them in their hands, pulling them upright. Raph gave her a wary look, but obediently sipped the milk, making a face as cold milk touched the horrible flavor of hangover. The aspirin had kicked in a little, but it was nothing compared to the power of his headache.

At the very least, April didn't force small talk at the kitchen table. Apparently satisfied everyone would get SOMETHING in their stomachs, she sat down with Mikey and they ate the rest of the pancakes, Mikey casting her wary looks and Leo and Splinter staring grimly down at their plates.

Splinter finished first. He folded his hands and stared dully through the table, either lost in thought or blank, nobody was sure. Leo managed about half of his before his stomach rebelled, and April fortunately didn't force any more on him. She'd stood up and started clearing the plates before anyone spoke.

"I would…I would like to take a look at Donatello's computer." Master Splinter said slowly. All eyes turned to him, and he finally looked up, loosing his distant gaze.

"His computer?" Mikey parroted.

Master Splinter nodded. "I would like to see what he was working on when… I would like to know why he was wearing that helmet." He corrected himself.

He waited.

"Miss O'Neil, would you….?" he prompted

She blinked. "Oh. Um, yeah. Yeah, I'll help with that. I was wondering what he was working on myself…" It just hadn't occurred to her to investigate while Donatello still lay cold in his room. She quickly put the dishes in the sink, chewing the corner of her mouth.

"I want to help." Mikey said quietly.

Master Splinter looked at him. He looked ready to protest, then stopped, and nodded. "Alright, you may help. Leonardo?"

Leo blinked at him.

"You will take care of Raphael. See to it they stay out of further trouble."

Leo opened his mouth to protest this, but he had never in his life disobeyed an order, and couldn't bring himself to do it now. "Yes, Sensei." Leo said quietly.

Splinter pushed away from the table and stood, taking up his cane again. "Come along." He said, and April hesitantly left the dishes in the sink, Mikey following behind her as they walked to Donnie's lab.

Splinter waited while Michelangelo typed in the access code. As soon as the door opened, Splinter could smell it, and his ears flattened before he could stop them. The air conditioning and ventilation was on high, but the smell still penetrated, faint but undeniable. The room smelled of death and bodily seepage. He went in anyway, and the others followed, fortunately blessed with less keen senses of smell.

Everyone ignored it by unspoken agreement.

In Donatello's main lab, the computer screens had changed. The two boxes that had been there before, one of brain wave activity and one of computer text, had disappeared. Instead they were met with black screens. In the upper left corner of each one was the word

AFRICA://

April stared up at the computer screen for a moment, then hesitantly hooked Donnie's computer chair, lowering herself onto it with a grimace. She flexed her fingers and began typing, resolutely ignoring everything else.

The computer complained, and after a moment she paused, and frowned.

"The C drive doesn't exist." She said, and typed a few hesitant commands. "But that's impossible. That's the hard drive of the computer, it has to exist."

"What about AFRICA?" Mikey asked hesitantly. "It said AFRICA up there were it normally says C."

She stuck her tongue between her teeth, and started typing again. This time, the computer didn't protest.

"He renamed his hard drive 'AFRICA'?" she mumbled, fingers gliding over the keyboard.

"Can you bring up what he was working on last night?" Master Splinter asked slowly.

April nodded. "Working on it."

She asked for a list of computer files, organized by date of creation. She paused. The latest one had been created at 6:05 this morning. Six hours after Donnie had likely died.

"It's still working." She said, moving down the list. "The computer. It's still working on whatever he had it doing. Here, here's what it was doing around midnight."

It was the biggest batch of activity, starting around 11:30 and going till 12:03. After that, it was quiet for nearly four hours. She opened a file near midnight. A box appeared labeled Alpha and Beta, and began placidly going through Donnie's brain activity around 11:59. It went in sporadic jumps and waves, going faster the closer they got to midnight. As the recorded clock hit 12:00, the waves scrambled in an absolute panic before abruptly going flat. April paled. She realized what they'd just watched.

She closed the file quickly.

"There's more here." She said, trying to cover it up.

"What are all these other files?" Master Splinter said, pointing to the screen at files that did not end in the same file type as the last one.

April opened one at random. She was met with a barrage of rapidly generating computer text. Most of it was nonsense. Her eyes scanned the screen, trying to put something together, before it abruptly went blank. Not even a cursor prompt remained.

She blinked at the screen, and tried to bring up the AFRICA drive again.

The computer did not respond. After a moment, white text came up.

[3T

It blinked, then erased itself.

WHU

After a moment's pause, the screen just filled with a large white question mark.

The question mark stayed. April stared at it for a moment, then tried to ask for the AFRICA drive again.

The screen went blank.

WHO ?

Mikey cringed. "Okay, creepy. Did the computer just ask who you were?"

April frowned, and typed her name.

APRIL O'NEIL.

The text disappeared. It stayed blank for a long time.

"It must be some program Donnie left behind." She said, frowning hard in thought. "Or it could just be the computer malfunctioning. It's not ACTING like a real program, not really. Donnie would make something better than this."

Text came back on the screen.

PROG INCOMP

Pause.

WRONG DIFF THAN PROG INCOMP

…

CANTFIND CANT FIND SORCE PROG RRR

Nothing. The screen flickered for a moment.

DIDN MEAN LIKE THS WRONG DIFF THAN PROG

…

MIKEY

That word stayed on the screen. April began typing, trying to communicate with the program, but it ignored her completely.

After a long moment, it changed.

SORRY

The screen faded to black. And no amount of coaxing could bring it back.


	6. Chapter 6

-----------

Chapter 6

-----------

"What was that?" Splinter asked quietly. He looked blessedly calm, but his knuckles were white around the head of his cane.

April chewed her lip, fingers still hovering over the useless keyboard. "I don't know." She admitted. "It could have been….anything. A computer malfunction, probably."

"But it asked who you were." Mikey pointed out, sounding only a little shaky. "Why would the computer want to know who you were?"

"Security program?" April muttered, then paused. "No, anyone could just pretend to be someone else. It wasn't a security program." She corrected

"What about what it said." Master Splinter said slowly. "Lets go over that. 'Prog Incomp'?"

"Program incomplete." April translated. "It means that whatever program was running didn't have a chance to finish before it was turned off." She paused. "That doesn't do us much good unless we know what kind of program he was running. Which we can't find out while the computer's being nonresponsive."

"What about the brain wave thing?" Mikey offered. "He was running that when he—" he cut himself off there.

April nodded. "Yeah, but that wasn't a real program, that was just recording data, like research. Though why he'd be recording his brainwave patterns when he was planning on just….doing THAT anyway…." She paused, and took a breath. "There's got to be more to this than meets the eye. It just doesn't make any sense this way."

"What about the rest of it?" Splinter said. "'Can't find source program?'"

"…Donnie's brain?" Mikey offered hesitantly.

April stared blankly at the empty screen. "But still, brainwave activity? What would be so important? Especially when he's not here to finish the work?"

"Unless he thought the work WAS finished." Splinter said slowly. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, being careful as any of them to avoid looking at the little alcove where Donnie lay. "Michelangelo? Do you know what Donatello was working on recently?"

Mikey pulled back a little. "W-why would I know? I mean, you guys don't know, why would he tell me?"

"Because you've been in his lab constantly these past few months. I assume, at some point, you saw his work." Splinter said, catching his eyes and holding them.

"I don't know what he was doing!" Mikey threw his arms up. "He never let me see any of that stuff! As soon as I came in the room he turned off the computer and hid his notes! I figured he was just doing, you know, Donnie stuff."

"He kept notes?" April asked, perking up a little. "As in, paper notes?"

"Yeah." Mikey muttered. "They're over with all the books and stuff. But it won't do any good, Donnie writes in code or something, I dunno what any of it means."

April was off the chair and over to the table in a moment, pulling the pile of coverless paperbacks off to the side and getting at the notepads underneath. Most of the pages had come loose (Mikey's doing, the result of play wars over Donnie's work. Play for Mikey, anyway.) Most of it was out of order, if it had ever been in order to begin with. As anal as Donnie could get about his work, he was surprisingly messy when it came to notebooks, one of the reasons most of his work was done on the computers, now.

April began spreading out the mess of paper, frowning as she quickly scanned the contents and trying to put them in order. The tower of worn, marked paperbacks slid quietly off each other and onto the floor. She ignored them.

Master Splinter looked after her for a moment, then down, glancing over the broken glass of the shattered Kevorkian machine. He stepped quietly over it and frowned, staring at the wired, steel circlet that had been discarded next to it. An ear twitched. He knelt and touched the wires, almost reverently, and picked it up. It looked limp and tired in his hands.

"Michelangelo," he said gently, sounding a little strained, the tone making Mikey's stomach tighten miserably. "Is there anything else you haven't told us? Anything else about Donatello's work?"

Mikey grimaced, reaching across to take the steel circlet from his father's hands. He fingered the white plastic electrodes unhappily. "Nothing important…"

"Michelangelo…" he said warningly.

Mikey sighed, sounding older than his usual self. "The helmet thing. It does more than just reading brainwaves…"

-- December 19th, 2007--

"Mikey, would you just hold still?" Donnie complained, hands tangled in the mess of wires around Michelangelo's head. It was late, nearly two in the morning, and Mikey was squirming, making proper connections nearly impossible.

"You're going to fry my brain, aren't you." Mikey said, accusatory. "I saw it on that TV show, where they put the wire things on Sam Becket's head when he leaped into the mental institution and fried him so bad he couldn't remember who he was and it screwed up his communications with Al in the future and they had to zap him again to get it back."

Donnie paused, processing that. "That was Quantum Leap." He said blandly, going back to work. "And that was an electroshock machine. This isn't. Not that I don't think you undergoing electroshock therapy wouldn't make the world a better place, but not tonight."

"Hey." Mikey complained, putting on a pout. "I'll have you know my brain is just fine the way it is. Everyone loves my brain. Especially you, so nyah."

"Me? Whatever gave you the impression it was your brain I was interested in?"

"Well it's certainly my brain your interested in right now. Considering it's three in the morning, and everyone's asleep, and you've got me alone in your lab and you're doing RESEARCH. Research, Donnie. WITH MY BRAIN. Not any of the OTHER parts I'd happily let you research, but my BRAIN." Mikey tapped his temples pointedly. "There is something seriously wrong with this situation."

"Hush." Donnie said, and spun the chair around to face the computer. Mikey was in a position he'd become horrifically familiar with a month later, but for now, he was sitting alone before the main computer monitor, staring up through a dark lab with a steel circlet of wires around his head. There were three boxes on the computer screen. He'd seen them before, leftover when Donnie fell asleep before getting everything shut down, leaving his computers and machinery running through the night. Two of the boxes, smaller and to the left, were labeled Alpha and Beta. There were lines going across them, scrabbling randomly.

"See those?" Donnie said, pointing to the two boxes. "That's your brain. Those lines show what your brain is doing right now."

"…the computer is reading my mind?" Mikey asked warily, raising an eyeridge.

"Not exactly. Those are just brainwaves. You know how on a heart monitor, the lines jag up and down whenever the heart beats? It's kind of the same thing. It doesn't tell me what you're thinking about, just that you're thinking."

"Then…what good does it do? It's obvious my brain is working, I'm sitting here talking to you, aren't I?"

Donnie decided to hold back any comments he might have on that one. "It's just to keep an eye on things." He said instead.

"So CAN you make it so the computer can read my mind?" Mikey asked, "Or is squiggly lines all it can do."

"I don't need a computer to read your mind Mikey." Donnie said flatly.

"Oh yeah? What am I thinking about right now?"

Donnie looked at him for a moment. "Taking the helmet thing off and jumping me while you still have the chance?"

"….Okay, so you don't need the computer." Mikey admitted. "But I was thinking about leaving the helmet thing ON, thank you."

"Somehow you having a techno fetish does not surprise me." Donnie deadpanned. "But anyway. Focus." He manually turned Mikey's head back towards the computer screen. "See the big empty box to the right of the little boxes?"

"Yep. It's just got a little blinky cursor in it. How thrilling."

"Look at the cursor, and focus on something positive. Like smiling. Something with a mental 'up' motion."

Mikey gave a put-upon sigh and concentrated on 'up.' After fifteen seconds of staring at the damn thing, the cursor nudged up a few centimeters on the screen.

"Woo hoo." Mikey deadpanned. "All that focus to do something I could have accomplished by pressing the 'up' key."

"Yes, but don't you see what it is?" Donnie said excitedly. "It's a whole new way of controlling the computer! It's using your mind instead of your hands, it's showing you how to think like the machine, how to think INSIDE of it! Once proficient, you wouldn't even NEED the keyboard and mouse anymore, you could BE the computer!"

Mikey stared at him for a long moment.

"Oooookay, can you tell what I'm thinking NOW?" Mikey said. On the computer screen, the little cursor was moving up and down, up and down, up and down.

Donnie sighed. "It's just not possible to get you excited about scientific advancements, is it."

"Not at three in the morning."

Donnie looked despondently at the computer screen. "My brain is wasted on you."

"Your brain is thinking too hard." Mikey responded. "At three am, there are only two things in the world worth doing. One of them is sleep. Science is not the second one."

"I don't have time for sleep." Donnie waved it off. "And science is important." He sounded vaguely petulant.

"If you don't have time to sleep, you have time for the second one." Mikey said, and grinned. "I'll leave the little helmet on so you can do science at the same time. Research on turtle brain activity during sex."

Donnie stared at him. "…you are aware we'd have to do it in the computer chair. The cables don't reach that far."

"I'm feeling flexible and well balanced tonight." Mikey said cheerfully.

Donnie looked at him for a moment, and sighed. That was all Mikey needed to know he'd gotten his way.

April had been listening to Mikey's (severely edited for content) story while she tried to find order in the general chaos of Donnie's notes. Donnie's handwriting wasn't the best, as bad as a doctor's, and he kept striking through lines and replacing them with marginal scribbling. What was worse, what little she could make out was philosophy and theory. Very little in his notes seemed to be actual scientific material.

She found a page on which he'd written the word 'AFRICA', underlined and circled. She stopped and stared at it for a moment.

Underneath, in a scrawl of smudged ink, he'd made notes.

'As species evolve, features no longer required for survival fade and become vestigial, and eventually disappear altogether.

The fruit fly experiment

Soot moths

Only by leaving old features behind can species evolve into new form.

Hip evolution in humans; lost the ability to climb trees, became bipedal

Originated but left the jungles of Africa behind as infinitely adaptable homo-sapiens instead of limited primate

Forced evolution ???'

April blinked slowly at the sheet, then looked back at the computer. The screen was still blank, but the machine was running. She stood up from Donnie's workbench and walked over, right between Mikey and Splinter, and sat down at the computer chair. She began typing.

DONNIE ARE YOU STILL IN AFRICA?

The words didn't appear on the screen. After a moment, the cursor reappeared, blinking placidly but without the usual DOS prompt.

She tried again.

DONNIE ARE YOU STILL HERE, IN AFRICA?

Mikey and Splinter were staring at her. She ignored them, staring at the blinking cursor.

YES

April let her breath out in a rush, slumping visibly in the chair. It felt like someone was stepping on her chest.

"…What does that mean?" Splinter asked warily, unwilling to jump to conclusions.

"It's….He's…." She put her hands up, unable to sort through the jumble in her head to explain this properly. "Donnie's in the computer!" she blurted.


End file.
